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A. W. F. STENZEL. I

OWNERSHIP INDICATOR.

APPLICATIONFILED MAY 29, I918. RENEWED AUG. 19. 1919. 1,317,763,

Patented Oct. 7, 1919. 2 SHEETS-SHEET! elmsmlulmm I L E L A. W. F. STENZEL.

OWNERSHIP INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. I918- RENEWED AUG. I9, I919.

1 ,317,763}, I Patented out. 7,1919.

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ARTHUR W. F. STENZEL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

OWNERSHIP-INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 7, 1919.

Application filed May 29, 1918, Serial No. 237,207. Renewed August 19, 1919. Serial No. 318,573.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. F. STEN- ZEL, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, andresiding at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ownership-Indicators, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to Which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a method of characterizing certain articles of manufacture and particularly valuable articles that are carried around from place to place, or worn by the owners of such articles as for example, umbrellas, cameras, handbags, traveling bags and like articles, various sporting goods, such as golf sticks, tennis rackets, baseball bats, musical instruments of various kinds and classes, books, cigarette cases and many other articles of a similar class, and the method consists in so characterizing such articles as to designate theirvownership or the party to whom such articles belong so that it a characterized article is lost or stolen, the party finding or stealing the same would have no value in such article, in that the characterizing thereon clearly designates that the article does not belong to such person; and the object of the invention is to provide a simple device for characterizing articles of the class specified to designate the ownership of such articles, and to provide means for permanently locking the device employed in connection with the article with which it is connected against detachment by tools or implementsof any kind or class without destroying the article or showing evidence of the attempt to remove the device.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a side view of the handle of an umbrella showing one of my improved ownership indicating ordesignating devices secured thereto;

Fig. 2 a partial section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4: a view looking in the direction of the arrow 4 of-Fig. 1 with part of the construction broken away and in section;

Fig. 5 a partial section on. the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 6 a detail perspective view of a type member which I employ;

Fig. 7 a perspective view of a filler which I employ;

Fig. 8 a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing only a part of the construction and with parts omitted;

Fig. 9 a view similar to Fig. 2 but shoW- ing a modified form of construction;

Fig. 10 a section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 11 a view similar to Fig. 10 but showing a modification;

Fig. 12 a view similar to Fig. 10 but showing another modification;

Fig. 13 a plan view of a casing or frame which I employ in the construction shown in Figs. 9 and 10;

Fig. 14 a plan view of the casing or frame used in the construction shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 15 a view similar to Fig. 2 but show ing another modification;

Fig. 16 a view similar to Fig. 15 but showing only a part of the construction on an enlarged scale and with parts in a different position;

Fig. 17 Fig. 16;

Fig. 18 a view similar to Fig. 10 but showing a modification; and,

Fig. 19 a view similar to Fig. 10 but showing a cross section of the casing or frame, shown in Fig. 18, the section being on the line 1919 of said figure.

In Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, 1 have shown but one form of device to be inserted into an article and for the purpose of illustration 1 have shown at 20 a handle of an umbrella, the hand portion of which is provided with a longitudinal bore 21 which is preferably located adjacent to one side wall of the handle, and said side wall is provided with a recessed portion 22 Which extends to within a predetermined distance from the end of the handle and which communicates with the bore 21.

Mounted in the bore 21 is a casing 23 which is circular and tubular in form, the inner end of which is closed by an end member 24, and the top of which is provided with a slot or opening 25 which extends from the a section on the line 17-17 of placed in the bore 21 move out into the pockets 27 and serve to retain said casing in the bore against displacement, or prevent the removal thereof from the handle of the umbrella, and it will be noted that the slot or opening 25 is in line with the recessed portion 22.

' A spring member 29 is countersunk in and secured to the end member 24 as shown at 30, and extends longitudinally through the casing 23, and printed, embossed or otherwise placed on the top of said spring is the word Stolen which will appear through the opening 22 in the handle member when the article or umbrella isforsale in a retail or other store, and when said article is purchased, the name of the purchaser will be made up by assembling a plurality of type members 31 which bear the letters of the alphabet, numerals, blanks and various other characters that may be used for the purpose of designating the owner of the article.

The members 31 are composed of approximately semi-circular bodies 32 having upwardly directed studs 33 which when said members are connected with the casing 23 are passed upwardly through the slots or openlngs 25 and opening 22, and the bottom portion of the members 31 are recessed as shown at 34 to receive the spring member 29 when connected with the casing 23. In assembling the members 31 in the casing 23, one of said members is first placed in the casing and moved to the inner end thereof over the spring 29 after which a filler or backing member 35, which is arc-shaped in form, is moved backward into the casing 23 beneath the spring 29 and the member 31 previously placed therein, and this operation is completed until all of the members 31 have been placed within the casing and the opening 36 formed in the end of the casing 23 after all of the members 31 and 35 have been placed therein is closed by a plug 37,

.having a central aperture 38 to receive the end of the spring member 29 and a metal cap 39 is placed on over the plug 37 and over the end portion of the casing 23 and is locked in connection with said casing by oppositely arranged spring members 40 integral with the cap 39 which enter recesses or apertures 41, in the end walls of the casing 23 as clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawing.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing I have shown the type members 31 assembled to designate the ownership of the umbrella, the owner stated, and when an article is sold the name being John Doe, Box 1, N. Y.an-d when the members 31 and 35 are all in proper position, the side and end walls of the open- A ing 22 may be finished off by an angular strip 42 retained in position by spring members 43 of the same form and construction of the spring members 28 and 40.

In the use of my improvement as shown n Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, the article when placed upon the market to 'be sold by retailers and others, will have secured thereto, or therein, the casing 23 carrying the spring member 29 and the word Stolen will appear through the opening 22, as previously and address, or any other designating characters that may be aflixed to the member 31, or form a part thereof, are set up in a suitable frame orsupport not shown, and if the purchaser finds that the same is correct, the salesman places said members 31 as well as the members 35 in the casing 23 in the manner above set out and locks the same therein by the plug 37 and cap 39,.and the article is then turned over to the purchaser.. With an article marked or designated in the above manner if the owner thereof should mislay the same, loseit, or have it stolen from him, such article wouldbe valueless to the finder, or the party stealing the same for the reason that it bears thereon in plain view of others than. the user or wearer, certain designating characters that indicate that such article does not belong to the party who found or stole the same and to remove or destroy this evidence, if such were attempted, would still denote that the party carrying or using the same was not the owner. 7

It will be understood that to make this invention a commercial success or to commercialize the device used in carrying my mvention into effect, retailers or others that sell or deal in articles of the class to which this invention relates would be provided with the required amount of the members 31, as 110 well as the members 35, to enable such parties to make up the desired title or designating characters to be used in an article sold, and if the supply of said members 31 and 35 run out, the same may be replen- 115 ished as often as required by the manufacturer of the same. It will also be understood that while I have shown the device, above described, as connected with an umbrella, the same may be connected with various articles of manufacture of the class specified, and the shape or form of the casing 23 or the size and dimensions thereof as well as the shape and form of the members 31 and 35 and their size and dimensions may be varied 125 to suit the articles to which they are attached.

In Figs. 9, 10 and 13 of the drawing, I have shown "a modification in which the article 44, or one'face of said article is provided with an elongated recess 45, the walls 130 of which are provided at spaced intervals with pockets 46 and a two-part casing 47, each part of which consists of a long side wall 48 and an end wall 49, the top of said walls being provided with inwardly. directed flanges 50, and the bottom of the side walls of which are provided with inwardly directed flanges 51, is adapted to be placed in the elongated recess 45 and retained in said recess against displacement by spring members 52, three of which are shown on the side walls of the casing 47, and one on each of the said end walls thereof.

In this form of construction I employ type or character members 53, a number of which are shown in Fig. 9 of the drawing, and one of which is shown in Fig. 10, the opposite sides of said walls of which are provided with recesses 54 adapted to receive the inwardly directed bottom flanges 51, as clearly shown in Fig. 10, and the side walls of which are provided with tongues 55 and grooves 56 so that when the members 53 are placed in one of the side parts of the casing 47 with one of the recesses 54 in engagement with the flange 51 of said part, the tongue 55 of one member 53 will engage the groove 56 of the other, as clearly indicated in Fig.

9, and in this way the members 53 are interlocked, and are also locked against displacement in the casing 47, while said casing is locked against displacement or removal from the article 44 by the spring members 52 engaging the pockets 46.

In the use of this form of construction, the article to be sold is provided with the elongated recess 45 and pockets 46 before said article is sold, or when said article is placed upon the market for sale, and when the article is sold the desired name and address or other designating characters which are on the face of the members 53 is made up in one part of the casing 47 in the manner above described, after which the other part of the casing is placed thereon and said casing with all of the members '53 therein is dropped or moved into the position shown in Fig. 9 where it is locked in the article 44 as above set out.

In Fig. 9, I have only shown six of the members 53 for illustration, but it will be understood that when the article is sold the entire casing 47 will be filled up with said members.

In Figs. 11 and 14, I have shown a slight modification from that shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 13, which consists in introducin between the two parts of the frame 4%, as shown in Fig. 13 an intermediate section 57, comprising a central wall 58 having oppositely directed end walls 59 which are similar in all respects to the end walls 49 of the casing 47. The wall 58 is provided at the top thereof with opposite directed flanges 60 and at the bottom thereof with comprising oppositely directed flanges 61 which are similar and have the same functions as the flanges 50 and 51, but the wall 58 is not provided with the spring members 52. With this construction I provide two rows of the type or character members 53 for designating the owner of the article sold, and it will be understood that by introducing other intennediate sections similar to the sections 57 any desired number of rows of the members 53 may be obtained and-regardless of the number empl0yed,'the members 53 will be locked in position against removal, or displacement, while the separate parts of the casing, involving the members 57 will be locked against removal or displacement in the article by the spring members 52.

In Fig. 12 of the drawing I have indicated the device shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 13 of the drawing employed, or secured to an article 62 composed of sheet metal and having a pocket or recessed portion 63 opening outwardly as shown at 64 to permit the insertion of the device shown in said figures and the spring members 52 operate in con.- nection with recesses 65 in the side walls of the pocket 63 to retain the device in position as will be readily understood. This form of construction is shown to illustrate that the article to be sold, if of suitable form or construction, may be provided with the recess or receptacle for the designating device or device for supporting the designating characters, and the form and construction shown in Fig. 14 may also be employed in connection with the article as shown in Fig. 12, and it will also be understood that with the form and construction of device as shown in Figs. 9 to 14 inclusive, I am not lnnited to the speclfic form of casing for supporting the members 53 nor to the exact form of such members, the only essential feature being to provide a container with means for looking it in connection with the article to which it is attached against displacement or removal, to lock each of the type members 53 against removal from said casing and to interlock said members.

In Figs. 18 and 19, I have shown another modification of the construction shown in Figs. 9 to 14 inclusive, which consists in locating the pockets 46 of the article 44 in the side walls thereof closely adjacent to the bottom of the recess 45 in said article and employed in connection with this method of recessing the article '44 is an elongated casing 66 divided centrally and longitudinally into two similar parts 67,

bottom walls 68, upwardly directed side walls 69 and a top inwardly directed flange 70 which extends the full length of said parts, and .the end walls of said parts are also provided with said flange, the side walls of said parts being promay be placed over the end of the article vided adjacent to the bottom thereof at spaced intervals with outwardly directed spring members 71 adapted to operate in connection with the pockets 46 as clearly shown in Fig. 19, and above. said spring members 71, the side walls are bent inwardly to form longitudinal beads72.

lVith this form of construction I employ type 01 designating members 73, one of which is shown in Fig. 19, and the opposite side walls of which are provided with recesses 74 adapted to receive the longitudinal bead 72', of the separate parts 67 of the casing 66, and the members 73 in this form of construction are not provided with the interlocking means consisting of the tongues and grooves 56 as shown in Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive.

In Figs. 15 to 17 inclusive, I have shown still another modification in which an article 75, or one side wall'of said article is provided with a bore 76 which opens outwardly through the side'of the article by a slot or opening 77, and the bore 76 extends from the end wall of the article to the point 78 shown in Fig. 15, and the bottom of said bore is provided with a longitudinal recess 79 in which is placed a sheet metal 'bar 80, the ends of which are provided with downwardly directed portions 81 which serve to retain said bar in position, and the bar is provided at spaced intervals with a plurality of apertures 82. In this form of construction, I employ type or character members 83 which are approximately circular in form and are provided with upwardly directed studs 84 on which the type or other characterizing element is formed, and in the bottom thereof with bores 85 in which are placed spiral springs 86 and pins 87 which are adapted to operate in connection with the apertures 82 in the bar 80, as clearly shown in Figs. 16 and 17 to lock the members 83 against removal from the bore 7 6.

In assembling the members 83 in the bore 76 a thin sheet metal strip 88 is placed upon the top of the bar 80, as clearly shown in Fig. 15 and the members 83 with thesprings and pins 86 and 87 are slid inwardly into the position shown in said figure, until the bore 76 is filled up to its capacity, after which the sheet metal strip 88 is removed or drawn outwardly and the sprin s 86 force the pins 87 downwardly into t e apertures 82 and a suitable cap 89 to close the bore 76 extending through said end and to give a finish to said end of the article, but this cap does not aid in locking the members 83 against displacement or detachment from the bore 76.

With all the forms of construction shown, it will be noted that common features of construction are involved for accomplishing the desired result, namely, a plurality of type or other members provided with suitable designating characters, a recessed article or an article provided with a bore or passage, and means for retaining the type or character members within the recess, or bore or passage in the article, further meansfor locking a type or character member frame within the recess or borein the article and other details of construction hereinbefore set out, and while I have shown all of such forms of construction in a straight or elongated recess or bore, it will be understood that the form of the recess or bore will depend entirely upon the article to which the device is attached, and while I have set out certain articles to which devices of the character set forth may be attached, it will be understood that the use or application of my improvement is not limited to articles that may be carried, or worn by the owner, as the same may be applied to baby carriages, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, typewriters and the like, but my invention as previously stated is particularly designed for use in connection with articles that are subject to being lost, and it will be evident that by designating upon such articles the owners name and address or other characters will enable the finder of a lost article to return such article to the owner, or to notify the owner that-the article is in his possession.

Theuse of this device in connection with library books and other public property that is loaned to, or used by the public, will also be very efiective in that the title of the book, author and name and address of the library or librarian may be permanently connected with the bookfand while I have set out a number of the advantages of my improvement, and certain details of construction for .carrying my improved method of designating the ownership of certain articles of manufacture, it will be understood that my invention is not limited to the details of construction of the devices herein shown and described, and changes therein and modifications thereof may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the sp1r1t of my invention or sacrificing its advana'ving fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is y 1. The combination with an article of manufacture, of designating character members located in said article and means irremovably securing said members in said arti-- cle, said. means preventing the removal of the members without injuriously affecting the structure of the article.

2., The combination with an 'article of manufacture having a recess in one of its faces, of a series of designating character of the members without injuriously affecting the structure, of the article.

3. The combination with an article of 'mannfactnre, of a casing located in said article and irremovably secured thereto, and a series of desi nating characters located in the casing and 4. The combination with an article of manufacture having a bore and aslot placing the bore in communication with the exterior of the article, of a series of members located in said bore and having projections extending through said slot, designating characters carried by the projections and visible from the exterior of the article, and means for irremovably securing said members in said bore.

The combination with an article of manufacture, of a casing provided with spring tongues which engage said article for irren'iovably securing the casing to said article, and designating character members irremovably secured in said casing and visible from the exterior of the article.

irremovably secured therein.

6. The combination with an article of manufacture having a bore and a slot placing the bore in communication with the exterior of the article, of a casing located in said bore and having a slot registering with the article slot, means for irremovably securing the casingin said bore, and designating character members irremovably secured in said casing and projecting through said slots.

7. In a device of the class described, a

casing, eharacterizingmembers mounted in said casing, filler members mounted in said casing beneath said characterized members,

' means for retaining both of said members in said casing against displacement, and means involving spring devices for permanently retaining said casing in an article of manufacture against displacement.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witness this 25th day of May, 1918.

ARTHUR W. F. STENZEL; 

